Gonna try to keep this short, which will be a miracle based on how much I’ve written about LotR and Harry Potter.

First, let me admit I’ve only watched a few episodes of Enterprise. Now, when most people admit to having watched a few episodes, they’re confessing to having seen too many. I’m saying that my opinion is informed by only a handful of episodes.

That out of the way, onto the meat of it.

Enterprise is the prequel to the original Star Trek series. It’s supposed to be set at an earlier time when Earth and the Federation are not the powerhouse force in the universe like they are in the other series. Nothing wrong with a prequel, especially since there wasn’t much direction for the series to go forward after the Q plot line in The Next Generation.

The problem with Enterprise is that mankind isn’t in a developmental phase, what you’d expect from a prequel. It’s basically just a Star Trek re-imagining. You don’t see the humans struggling with inferior technology, dealing with the political implications of space travel, or any of the stuff that would make for a good underdog story. And that’s really what the humans should be in a prequel. We know from First Contact that when humans develop the warp drive, other civilizations are far beyond them, like the Vulcans and Romulans.

We’ve already seen a powerful Starfleet vessel tromping through the galaxy. Not that this is a bad concept for a show, it’s just that it’s been done. Part of what made StarGate so appealing was that humans were using bullets to fight aliens with energy weapons. The clash of technologies matched the clash of ideologies and made the whole thing more engaging. Battlestar Galactica just wouldn’t have worked if it wasn’t a story of humans on the run from a more powerful aggressor. …Though, that’s also for plot reasons.

Anyways, the problem with Enterprise is that the story doesn’t really bring anything new. Deep Space Nine at least tried the space station angle, which forced a different type of story. A worse type, but at least they tried.

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5 Responses to “The Problem With Enterprise”

I don’t comment for a few weeks and all of a sudden you turn on me like this? I thought we had something special bl1y, but I guess I was wrong.

Watch more Enterprise. You want the political implications of space travel, you’ll get it in spades! Archer is a great captain who makes typical star trek decisions coming from the moral high ground, and it gets him, the crew, and more often than not the entire human race into diplomatic spats with plenty of alien races. There are action episodes that explore the violent side of meeting new species or getting involved between warring factions as well as plenty of tried and true negotiation plots.

Furthermore, the Enterprise is by no stretch of the imagination overpowered. The Klingons, Vulcans, Andorrians, Romulans, all of them have more powerful ships than the Enterprise that also have higher warp factors. For most of the show this is the case, with later modifications giving the Enterprise closer to even footing in some areas while it still lacks in others.

I’ll admit Enterprise had some bad ideas, but the crew development and stories are generally good. The 4th season in particular is dynamite, if you don’t want to slog through the whole thing just start there. Genetic augments, Romulan intrigue, Vulcan diplomacy, it’s all there.

Finally, if when you said DS9 took Star Trek in a worse direction you meant an infinitely better one, then yeah you’re right. Just like the 1st season of Next Generation the 1st season of DS9 leaves much to be desired. But the characters in that show are spectacular because they have to be, the Dr., Garak the Cardassian tailor/spy, Sisko (Bald w/Beard version), Odo, these are amazing characters on par with the Dr. from Voyager and Picard from Next Gen.

Hey Dawg, as I sit here downloading a couple podcasts to listen to while I take an afternoon nap I find myself jonesing for some Blind Drunk Justice. My afternoon naps, I’m in college so why the fuck not, aren’t as amusing without inebriated opinions on assorted topics of little importance.

A man is at work one day when he notices that his co-worker is wearing an earring. This man knows his co-worker to be a normally conservative fellow, and is curious about his sudden change in ‘fashion sense.’
The man walks up to him and says, ‘I didn’t know you were into earrings.’ ‘Don’t make such a big deal out of this, it’s only an earring,’ he replies sheepishly. His friend falls silent for a few minutes, but then his curiosity prods him to say, ‘So, how long have you been wearing one?’
‘Ever since my wife found it in my truck…’